NUMBER 47

DATE: 07/06/87

Sector Processing Center (SPC):

During May, ESA and JMA collectively processed 100% of A data into B1 and/or B2 data. AES, in its first two months of operations, processed 71% of the A data for April and May. No processing matrix was sent by NOA.

Normal operations were reported by ESA, JMA, AES and NOA. No report was received from CSU.

At the Working Group meeting in Ft. Collins last month, CSU reported that it was not sending B2 data until procedures for handling the new GOES AAA format could be developed. In particular a translation table to convert the new IR 10-bit radiances to 8-bit radiances needs to be developed. As soon as a table is agreed to (by CSU, AES and GPC) and a few other minor format changes are made, GOES-6 B2 data delivery will resume.

JMA reported at the meeting that it is planning to change over to delivery of B2 data to the GPC in early 1988.

AES reported that they have experienced some hardware problems associated with the re-positioning of the receiving equipment and computers. Direct ingestion of GOES AAA format is planned to start in the near future; little disruption of data processing is expected.

Special Area Processing Center (SAPC):

No reports were received.

Satellite Calibration Center (SCC):

The SCC reported on the completion of BC results for METEOSAT and GMS for 1986 and for GOES-6 for October 1983 and for 1985 and early 1986; however, these results have not yet been received by the GPC. Work has started on the remaining GOES-6 BC for 1984 and 1986.

Global Processing Center (GPC):

The GPC continued to receive B1 and/or B2 data from JMA, ESA, CSU, AES and NOA and correlative data from NOAA/NESDIS in a routine manner.

Production of GOES-6 B3 data for the period from August 1984 through October 1984 was completed, after changes were made to accommodate the motion of the satellite, which began on 14 August 1984. This production also included the QC procedures under the control of CLIPS for the first time. Checks of the accuracy of the navigation during this period are underway. If no serious problems with navigation are found, then production of the B3 data through January 1985 should be completed this month.

The GPC received the first operational B2 data for GOES-7 from AES, covering April and May 1987. Inspection of some of this data shows that there is a problem with either the GPC navigation procedure or the AES documentation. This is being investigated further.

The normalization of Channel 1 on NOAA-9 to that on NOAA-7 was reviewed at the Working Group meeting last month. Various ways to confirm the accuracy of the solar zenith angle corrections show that this could be refined slightly. However, the overall consistency of the reflectances measured by the two satellites, after the NOAA-9 radiances are normalized, confirms the validity of the approach. One last test of the NOAA-7 to NOAA-9 calibration is being conducted: as part of this test, NOAA-9 B3 for July 1985 and January 1986 was processed. Full NOAA-9 B3 production will begin later this month.

Further, more comprehensive, statistical studies of the first C1 data have begun to insure the accuracy of the merging code. Several minor corrections to the first data have already been completed; very few changes were suggested during the Working Group review. July and August will be devoted to completion of the final adjustments to the algorithm and the refinement of the C1 data contents. The algorithm was thoroughly reviewed at the Working Group meeting. Algorithm performance is judged to be good; however, small adjustments are needed to prevent small overestimates of cloud amount and to eliminate some cloud contamination of the clear radiances.

The major accomplishment since the Working Group meeting is the complete re-organization of all the disk storage at the GPC. This involved the erasure and restoration of about 7 Gigabytes of software and data sets being used for testing. This re-organization created several large "regions" in the disk storage that are physically separated to prevent channel contention during C1 production, which will improve the efficiency of the I/O steps.

An update of the B3 data documentation will be mailed to WMO by next week. This update corrects minor typos in the first version, refines the description of the tape format and tape read program, and adds information about the spectral responses of NOAA-9 and GMS-3. In addition, the operations history and normalization results were extended through 1986. New sections were added to document the monitoring of the NOAA-7 Channel 1 calibration, the normalization of NOAA-9 to NOAA-7, and the results of the quality inspection of most of the data in the ICA. The Working Group decided to re-issue the entire B3 documentation in early 1988; this version will include information for NOAA-10 and GOES-7 spectral responses, as well as updating the operations and normalization histories and the QC reports through the first 3.5 years of data collection.

ISCCP Central Archive (ICA):

The ICA continued to receive B1 data from JMA, CSU, ESA, AES and NOA in a routine manner. A update to the data catalog was distributed to the Working Group; a formal new catalog will be issued early next year when the B3 data holdings will be nearly up to date and the C1 holdings cover the first year.

The health of GMS-3, METEOSAT-2, GOES-6, GOES-7, NOAA-9 and NOAA-10 remained good.

Delivery of BC data for GOES-6 for October 1983 through July 1984 and for January 1985 and January 1986.

Delivery of NOAA-8 B2 data for March 1984 through June 1984.

Delivery of GMS B3 data for August 1983 through January 1985.

Normalization of NOAA-8 AVHRR to NOAA-7.

Obtaining NOAA-10 data over the Indian sector starting in December 1986.

Arranging for the delivery of INSAT B1 data.